THE afternoon silence was shattered by a loud thump on the window and Dúlra jumped from his armchair, almost spilling his mug of tea. He knew immediately what it was – a bird. The odd one still flies into the conservatory window despite it now being covered with clearly visible stickers. Maybe it’s the […]
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Captured on the canvas of a glass window
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Brexit is set to change everything
There are two traditional schools of thought – OK, three blinkered positions – about the reunification of Ireland. The first of these argues that reunification is the Holy Grail, and that when you’re seeking the Holy Grail, you don’t get into tedious discussions about what a Grail is or what shape it should assume […]
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Lucky to be Irish
Growing up I always felt so lucky to be Irish. And felt doubly lucky to be from Dublin. I was seriously comfortable in my Irish skin. I suppose there was something about not being one of the colonists next door. Something about being the country that produced so many missionaries, nurses and aid workers […]
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The beautiful little bird with the big attitude
IT couldn’t be easy knowing you’re going to end up in a sparrowhawk’s stomach – and sooner rather than later. That’s the fate of the vast majority of our goldcrests. These tiny birds – the smallest in Europe – weigh the same as a single sheet of paper. But for sparrowhawks they’re a delicacy […]
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Change comes slowly to Orange Order
ARE you a Christian? If that question sounds like one of the Saved Brethren on your doorstep, I apologise – few enjoy having their East Enders interrupted. No, it’s a question I had to ask myself after listening to the Orange Order’s Grand Chaplain, Reverend Mervyn Gibson. Mervyn was on BBC Radio Ulster/Raidió Uladh’s […]
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Rights, wrongs
THE LAWS that enforce the concept of human rights are incredibly recent. They came about after the world witnessed the extreme degradation of humanity that was the Holocaust, when value for life had become so cheap that in the aftermath of World War II the international community realised ordinary citizens needed legal protection, not […]
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